Category: Events

March will be an incredible month for coffee lovers as the “Brew Ha Ha” weekend sees some of the most eagerly awaited coffee events coincide on one big weekend at the Twisted Pepper on Dublin’s Middle Abbey Street.

Coffee lovers from as far away as Russia, Scandinavia and even Australia convened on Dublin for last year’s event and this year will be even more equally enticing to coffee enthusiasts everywhere.

First up on the Friday 30th March is the Irish Brewers Cup where we seek to find our national representative who will follow up on Keith O’Sullivan’s victory at last years World Championships. This event pits some of the countries finest baristas in a battle to find the most skilled filter brewer and promises to be a hotly contested event.

Saturday sees Tamper Tantrum Live return to the stage at the Twisted Pepper in what is one the coffee industry’s premier education-focused conferences with a unique urban twist.

Last year’s speakers included World Barista champions, Espresso Machine innovators and Coffee bloggers; tickets sold out in a matter of days. This years line-up is a tight-lipped secret at the moment but is guaranteed to be just as prestigious.

Sunday is a double header with proceedings opening with the Irish Cup Tasters Championships. This event requires participants to spot the odd coffee out of three on eight separate occasions to determine who’s pallet is the most refined. Irelands representative in the past two years, David Walsh, has gone on to finish second at the World Championships two years running.

Following that is the inaugural Hasbean World Home-Barista Championships, aimed at crowning the finest home-barista there is. Amateur contestants will bring their own equipment and present to a panel of professional judges to determine who will be the first ever Hasbean World Barista Champion.

Entry is free on Friday and Sunday but Saturdays even is a ticket-only affair and can be purchased here for €50 which includes lunch and filter coffees for all attendees.

This is one of the most exciting events on the international coffee calendar and is a unique opportunity for coffee lovers to experience the best of what the specialty coffee industry has to offer.

Friday 30th March Irish Brewers Cup

Saturday 31st March Tamper Tantrum Live

Sunday 1st April Irish Cup Tasters Championship

Hasbean World Home Barista Championships

Entry for the Brewer’s Cup and Cup Tasters Championships will be online shortly.

This years judging certification workshop will take place on Saturday, October 15th in Marco HQ in Sandyford, Dublin. Each year the standards of both baristas competing and judges… err… judging improves. The Irish Chapter of the SCAE is committed to the creation of a credible, talented and dedicated pool of certified national judges to best serve both the national competition but who would also be capable of representing Ireland at global coffee events. To that end two key objectives this year and in future years for the chapter will be to ensure proficiency of national judges in the ever evolving rules and regulations of the WCE, but also to put forward one nationally accredited Irish judge to go to WCE Judges Certification Workshops.

Points to note:

All currently accredited Irish National judges will need to be annually re-certified in order to be eligible to judge in upcoming SCAE competitions.

It is now mandatory that all judges be proficient in both sensory and technicaal judging areas.

It is essential that all those intersted in becoming a nationally accredited judge in upcoming SCAE national competitions attend and pass the upcoming Judge’s Workshop.

In order to attend the Workshop, participants must confirm availability for both the November semi-finals and the February finals.

You must familiarise yourself with the current WBC rules prior to attendance of the Workshop – click here for download.

The semi-finals of this year’s Avonmore Irish Barista Championships and Latte Art Competitions are to be in Java Republic on the 12th and 13th of November. Competitor numbers have swelled in recent years, making it necessary to split the events into a semi-finals and a finals round.

6 competitors will advance to the finals round, to be held on February 1st in The Citywest Hotel.

Registration forms for both competitions will be online shortly, and the final date for acceptance of registration will be (strictly) the 31st October.